By Chance
by moosmiles
Summary: Clare's whole world centers around her daughter, Maggie, and finishing school. When she takes Maggie to soccer practice one Saturday, she runs into an unlikely person from her past. Clowen. Minor Eclare.


_Title: By Chance_

 _Rating: M_

 _Chapter: 1. Just a Soccer Mom_

 _Fandom: Degrassi: The Next Generation_

 _Summary: Clare's whole world centers around her daughter, Maggie, and finishing school. When she takes Maggie to soccer practice one Saturday, she runs into an unlikely person from her past. Clowen. Minor Eclare._

 _Comments: I've been reading a lot of Halawen's Clowen fics lately and thought I'd try writing out a story of them._

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the idea._

"Margaret Catherine! I will not repeat myself again!" Clare shouted from the entry way as she shoved a bag of cut oranges in the cooler with the water bottles. When no one responded, Clare sighed heavily. "Maggie. We are going to be -"

Suddenly, Clare's four year old daughter, Maggie, rushed down the stairs to join her mother. She had her knee-high socks on, but was lacking her running shoes. "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."

"Maggie, Sweetie," Clare sighed, tugging Maggie's dark curls into a tight ponytail. She groaned, picking up her daughter and, carrying her in one arm and the cooler in other hand, walked out of the house to put both cooler and child in the car. Clare rushed back to the house, grabbing Maggie's athletic shoes, and locked the front door. She tossed the shoes into the back, ordering, "Try to at least slip those on. We'll lace 'em when we get to the park."

The park was only a ten minute drive from the house, but preschool soccer practice didn't even last an hour. Keeping fifteen preschoolers' attention on one activity for too long was a chore and Clare was always relieved she only had to keep track of one out of the whole bunch.

As soon as the car was parked, Clare got in the backseat and laced Maggie's shoes. "Good?"

"Yup," Maggie chirped, unbuckling herself. She jumped out of the car and took off running towards the soccer field.

Clare sighed heavily as she grabbed the cooler, locking up her SUV. She walked over to the field and sat down on a bench. She ran a hand through her hair, watching her little girl run around the field, kicking a ball on her lonesome.

"Clare Edwards?"

Clare looked up at the sound of her maiden name and smiled, cupping a hand over her eyes since the sun was in her eyes. "Yes?"

"Wow. You, you look amazing." A man around her age stood in front of her. He had a net full of soccer balls slung over his left shoulder. He had jet black hair shagging out from under a baseball hat and a smirk crossing his lips.

"Do I -" Clare froze as she realized who the person standing in front of her was. "Owen? What are you doing here?" Last she had seen him was at Katie Matlin's graduation party, making out with a girl she didn't even recognize.

Owen shrugged, looking over at the group of children on the field. "I'm the new coach for the park district."

"You are coaching small children?" Clare questioned in disbelief. She struggled to piece all the information together.

"Mommy."

Clare smiled, looking past Owen, as Maggie ran as fast as she could to the bleachers. "Hey Mags." She opened her arms, which Maggie rushed into. She held her daughter close and kissed the top of her head. "You okay?"

Maggie pouted, looking over at a group of four other children. "Luka called me bossy."

Clare chuckled, shaking her head, "Oh, Maggie. You are not bossy." She set her daughter down beside her on the cold, metal bench. "While you shouldn't be telling others what to do, you are a smart, determined little girl and know what you want. Other kids don't get that."

Maggie tilted her head to the side thoughtfully and then shrugged, "Okay." She jumped off the bleachers and ran back to play with the other kids.

Owen furrowed his brow, suddenly confused. "Holy shit."

"You really shouldn't be swearing with children present," Clare chided playfully, shaking her head.

Before Owen could retort, someone called his name to bring him back to earth. He turned around to find his assistant coach trying to get his attention.

Clare spent the next forty-five minutes trying to pay attention while not being overbearing. Although, Maggie was rather independent and didn't need anything from her mother. Clare was rather biased, but she thought that Maggie was the most talented kid on the field. At least, she paid the most attention.

When the kids rushed away from the coaches to signal practice was over, Clare assured Maggie that she could play on the playground next to the field. Clare started picking up the mess around the cooler she had brought.

"So, you're a mother."

Clare immediately felt attacked, but when she looked up to find Owen standing in front of her, she rolled her eyes. "Obviously." She turned to check on Maggie, who was kicking as hard as her little legs could to get a swing to move.

"That's just mind blowing," Owen had to bite back a laugh.

"What's so mind blowing?" she scoffed, slamming the top back on the cooler. She started to retreat to her car, surprised to find Owen following her.

"That you brought your kid to practice and your husband isn't here," Owen shrugged. "Unless he's an asshole. Although, that was kind of your type."

"Eli wasn't an asshole. Sure, he was pretentious -" Clare stopped talking before she could continue to ramble and shoved the cooler into the trunk. She glared at Owen as she closed the trunk door. "And as gracious as it is to you assume I'm married, I'm not." She waved her naked hand up between them. She didn't wait for his response and called out. "Margaret!"

Maggie came whizzing through the playground to the SUV. She looked over at her coach and frowned. "What'd I do?"

"Nothing. We're cutting it close to getting to Gramma's," Clare informed, opening the backdoor for Maggie to climb in. She shut the door and looked at Owen. "We'll see you next week." She got in and backed up out of the spot.

"Mommy."

Clare peered into her rearview mirror at her daughter. "Yes, Maggie?"

"Do you not like Coach Owen?" Maggie asked, swinging her legs out of boredom.

Clare rolled her eyes. She shook her head. "No, Mags. I like your coach."

Maggie nodded, satisfied with her mother's answer. She looked out the window and gasped. "Gramma's house!" she exclaimed, starting to bounce in her seat, as the car pulled into the driveway. Clare let out a chuckle and, after parking the car, got Maggie out of the back. She carried Maggie up to the front door and let her daughter ring the doorbell.

"Hey Cece," Clare greeted once the door had opened. She passed Maggie over.

Cece held her granddaughter close, greeting, "Hi babies." She gave Maggie a kiss on the cheek and then carried her into the house, expecting Clare to follow. "I just finished making some brunch for Bullfrog. Come eat."

Maggie nodded as she was set down at a chair in the dining room. She whined, reaching for the plate of waffles.

Clare crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "I don't know if I have much time for food." She saw Maggie pointing and helped her plate some food.

"At least get some coffee," Bullfrog spoke up from his seat, looking up over the newspaper.

Clare smiled at him and sighed. "Okay. Fine. Coffee. To-go." Before she could even leave the table to get a mug, Cece was handing her a travel cup. "Thank you."

"Get to class. We got this sweet little thing," Cece assured, kissing Clare on the cheek.

Clare nodded, rushing out the door. "Text me if you need anything!"

Cece shook her head with a chuckle, "Oh, that girl."

Bullfrog leaned over to speak with Maggie. "Should we go down to the studio today, Mags?"

"Yeah!" Maggie cheered around a bite of waffle.


End file.
